It would seem that if there is any "transcoding" in the mix you will take a hit on quality. As for our house and use case that hit is trumped by convenience and less garbage oozing from the screen.

I used a dlna server called Serviio and had fantastic quality but the user interface was not helpful in keeping the wife on board for cord cutting. I still use it as I can control subtitles. We decided on Plex and have been very pleased but I can see the PQ difference. As for software MakeMKV and Handbrake are the go to's for me. It's understood that any conversion will cause compression artifacts and I wind up with a file that looks superior to anything on D* HD and slightly less than perfect from a Blu. If you have the storage space then you can't go wrong with the mkv it's 1:1.

I recall MakeMKV and Handbrake as popular options but eventually chose AnyDVD and CloneDVD as my choices for software. I ripped my discs as perfect 1:1 ISOs because I decided right off the bat that storage space would not dictate the quality of my rips. Right now I have 5 terabytes, but to finish all my blu-rays, I'm likely gonna have to add another hard drive. With regard to Plex, I have no experience with that software. Have you ever used XBMC....or Media Browser? If so, what was the reason for going in a different direction? Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

I recall MakeMKV and Handbrake as popular options but eventually chose AnyDVD and CloneDVD as my choices for software. I ripped my discs as perfect 1:1 ISOs because I decided right off the bat that storage space would not dictate the quality of my rips. Right now I have 5 terabytes, but to finish all my blu-rays, I'm likely gonna have to add another hard drive. With regard to Plex, I have no experience with that software. Have you ever used XBMC....or Media Browser? If so, what was the reason for going in a different direction? Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

Plex is a fork of XBMC but all that apt get install repository kernel compile stuff is gone. It also has native apps on smart Tv's and Roku devices. High WAF as well.

I was perusing horror selections on YouTube Movies yesterday and watched the trailer for "Bacterium". I knew I had seen it listed somewhere and it wasn't Netflix but Hulu. Looks like it might be a fairly bad cult movie (which often means good in that genre). I planned to watch it last night but opted for another episode of "Salamander" on NF as it was getting late.

You guys are bastards, if someone would have come on out and said "hey man Eva Green is I Showrimes Penny Dreadful" we all would have been on board quicker than a Mexican cartel receiving a shipment from Eric Holder.

You guys are bastards, if someone would have come on out and said "hey man Eva Green is I Showrimes Penny Dreadful" we all would have been on board quicker than a Mexican cartel receiving a shipment from Eric Holder.

It's funny your mention that. Penny Dreadful is the reason I decided to add Showtime to my FiOS subscription on Wednesday. I ended up getting all of the pay movie channels instead of just adding Showtime and I reduced my bill by $2.50 a month. I already had HBO and Cinemax for $27 a month. The fully loaded entertainment package is $49 a month and they are offering 50% off for a year so it ends up costing $24.50 a month. Go figure.

Showtime is running a Penny Dreadful marathon on Saturday night so I'll get caught up from the beginning.

You guys are bastards, if someone would have come on out and said "hey man Eva Green is I Showrimes Penny Dreadful" we all would have been on board quicker than a Mexican cartel receiving a shipment from Eric Holder.

It's funny your mention that. Penny Dreadful is the reason I decided to add Showtime to my FiOS subscription on Wednesday. I ended up getting all of the pay movie channels instead of just adding Showtime and I reduced my bill by $2.50 a month. I already had HBO and Cinemax for $27 a month. The fully loaded entertainment package is $49 a month and they are offering 50% off for a year so it ends up costing $24.50 a month. Go figure.

Showtime is running a Penny Dreadful marathon on Saturday night so I'll get caught up from the beginning.

I caught a 20min ending of an episode that I have no idea where it is in the series but it looked pretty solid. Add Eva Green to anything and I'm in. Is it no NF yet or just youtube?

I'll give "Bacterium" three goopy creatures. It really is a like a campy send off of 1970s horror disaster movies. It is rated PG-13 on Hulu but probably should be R or NR (wink, wink, nod, nod). It's also shot on video so if you don't like the "soap opera" look you might want to skip but most shots were "locked down" not "shaky cam."

Just watched The Battery. A road movie set in the post z apocalypse. Sometimes funny, sometimes smart, and worth a watch. Once you get past the instagram filters and hipster soundtrack it gets quite good.